The new kid
by Reece15
Summary: A new student moves to Echo Creek, but things start to go wrong once she realizes that this is not the calm, quiet town she expected.
1. Chapter 1

Part one, arrival: It was a particularly hectic day at Echo Creek high school. There was rumors flying around of a new student arriving after somebody saw a new family moving into an empty house on the outskirts of town. Although this only happened one day ago, rumors were already abuzz. You could say this was because it had been such a long time since a new student came to their school, but it was mainly because of who the last new student was. Star butterfly, who had changed the entire town into something you'd only expect to hear about in the most outlandish stories, and made the people of the town ready to accept anything enough, Janice Dusky, the only child of the new family in town, did start at school on that very same day, not that she cared about starting school so early, she'd much rather be there than at home unpacking, though she had no idea what she was in for.

Despite her height, and the school being on the lookout for a new student, Janice managed to slip through the halls unnoticed, following the instructions she had been given until she finally reached her homeroom. As she approached the door, the room seemed to be extremely loud, although she couldn't make out any words. She turned the handle to open the door, and everything fell silent. She peered inside, but there was no teacher. Once she finally entered the room, there was a sigh of relief before the noise gradually grew. It seemed like nobody realized that she was new, but that didn't really matter to her.

She made her way to an empty desk, behind a boy wearing a red hoodie in the first row. A few minutes passed before he turned to her. 'Hey, what's your name?' he said calmly, almost too quiet for her to hear. 'I'm... Janice.' She replied, trying not to be drowned out by the class' noise. And with this came another silence. The class had finally noticed her, but before they had a chance to rush her desk, the teacher came in, and Janice turned white. She could hardly let out a a scream before her head began to throb painfully, and she collapsed to the ground.

When she woke up, she was lying in the nurse's office, and she could hear voices from outside the room she was in. 'I've never seen anyone react to Skulnick like that.' Said a male voice her groggy mind could only assume was the boy who sat in front of her. 'The normal thing to do would be to be afraid right?' Came a female voice. '...And I guess if somebody had a nervous disposition they'd faint too.' 'Why are these people talking about this like that woman is suffering from an inconvenient skin condition?' She thought to herself while thinking back to what 'Skulnick' looked like. It was clear to her that she wasn't human... 'Or maybe it is...' she told herself in an attempt to calm her still throbbing head. 'Maybe I'm just out of touch with the world.' She sighed to herself.

Just then, the boy entered the room with the nurse. 'Oh, your up!' said the nurse cheerfully. 'We called your parents already, they'll be here to pick you up soon. Perhaps you should talk to her a bit about this.' She glared lightly at the boy before stepping out. 'I'm Marco by the way.' He said as she climbed down from the bed. 'So our teacher, she had a little... Accident with another student, who... You'll probably run into sometime soon, which is why she looks like that. I guess everyone here is so used to it now, we never even considered how new people would react.' Janice stared blankly for a second. 'What kinda accident could cause that kinda damage? And you say this student is still here?' Marco laughed awkwardly. 'Yeah... She was actually in class with you just then. She's not dangerous... Just a little bit... Uhh clumsy? I guess.' Janice stayed silent as she imagined all the ways a person could end up like that, and shuddered at the idea of somebody doing that by accident. 'They'll be moving you to a class with a normal teacher, so don't worry about it.' He flashed an enthusiastic smile her way, but she wasn't comforted at all, she could only think about eventually running into this student. 'I'd better get back, I hope you feel better, I'll see you tomorrow!' He waved happily as he walked out the door. He didn't seem to bad to Janice, atleast for a first impression.

It didn't take long for her parents to arrive, and when they did, they seemed terrified after Janice explained what had happened. They rushed her out to the car with no second thoughts, the nurse tried to ask if she had ever fainted like that before, but they didn't stop. 'We can't stay here.' said her father with a hint of nervousness in his voice. 'Then what?' Her mother retorted angrily. 'We can't just find a new house a day after moving in here. How would we ever pay for that.' Janice remained silent as they got into the car. 'There has got to be another school around here right? Let's look into that!' 'You guys are overreacting!' Janice interrupted angrily. 'I was just a little surprised, it's not worth looking into a whole other school for, is it?' They both looked at each other silently, and then went back to facing forward.

The rest of the trip was silent. Janice hoped this meant that they had listened to her. She couldn't remember them being particularly concerned about her health, but she also didn't remember ever getting headaches so bad that she fainted. Once she got home, her parents told her to take the day off tomorrow. She knew that this meant they'd be deciding whether to find a new school or not pretty much straight away. She went to her room, uncertain whether she even wanted to stay there or not.


	2. Chapter 2

Part 2: the next day

Although he had seen her make a full recovery in the nurse's office, he was still quite concerned about the new girl and how she would adjust to the school. He was walking to school with Star and Jackie when he decided to bring it up. 'I'm just worried that she might stumble on something that does that to her again.' 'Well...' Jackie sighed. 'There definitely isn't any shortage of weird things that happen around here, how would we be able to prevent that?' Marco pondered for a second, before turning to Star. 'I think you might have to start using less magic Star.' It took her a moment to comprehend this. 'Huh? Why? It's not like she's in our class anymore anyway.' Marco paused. 'Well... Yeah but...' Jackie stepped in to help him out. 'But there's always the chance she might see something happen that she doesn't understand and faint again. Do you understand Star?' She put her hand on Star's shoulder gently. 'Yeah, I think so.' she looked down to the ground in defeat. 'I'm not asking you to stop altogether, I just want you to be more... Selective on when you use it, you know?' His words seemed to perk her up a little though she didn't fully understand what he meant. 'Alright...I think I can do that.'

When they reached the school, things still seemed a little crazier than usual. By listening to the various conversations that flew past them, they could tell that news of yesterday's events had finally reached the rest of the students. Some people even stopped them to ask about her, but of course they could only tell them so much. They decided to head to Mrs. Skulnick's class for some peace. When they arrived, Mrs Skulnick was already still there, looking sad. She had always had mixed feelings about what she had become, but she had never truly felt like a monster until yesterday. She was so lost in thought that she didn't even notice the three of them enter. 'Mrs Skulnick?' Marco said as he approached her desk. 'Shouldn't you kids be outside enjoying yourselves?' She grunted at them. They could take a hint. They decided not to bother her, atleast until class began.

They sat in the furthest row away, to leave her to her thoughts. 'You think she's okay?' Jackie whispered to them. 'Probably.' Star began. 'I mean as far as we know, she starts every morning like this.' She said playfully. Marco punched her arm lightly. 'It isn't funny Star, I really think she's hurting.' The three of them sat there and watched her sit at her desk, completely silent. Not much changed when the rest of the class arrived either. She gave out whatever assignments had to be completed and returned to her desk, all without saying a word. Most of the other students noticed her unusual behavior too, but none bothered to ask her about it, they figured she was just having a bad day.

During lunch, they noticed that the new girl was no where to be found. 'Relax Marco.' Jackie said comfortingly. 'I bet she's just at home trying to recover. You'd do the same thing if that was you right?' This made him feel a bit better. He smiled back at her. 'Yeah, you're right. Maybe we'll see her tomorrow.' Star started acting excited. 'Great! I can't wait to meet her!' Marco couldn't help but be cautious of her sudden enthusiasm. 'Why is that Star?' he narrowed his eyes suspiciously. 'Well...' She paused dramatically. 'I kinda thought about what you said earlier, about how there's a lot of stuff that she doesn't understand and all... Well I thought about helping her understand, you know? Show her to some of the other dimensions make her see how awesome they are.' Marco and Jackie stared at her, unconvinced. Marco took a deep breath. 'So instead of easing her into it like we said, you want to just throw her in and hope for the best, just so you don't have to limit your magic?' Star frowned. 'I mean it could work. You don't know.' 'But we can't risk it, Star. I'm sorry but this is someone else's health, it's not right to play around with that.' He replied softly. 'This is a good opportunity to be less dependent on your powers too.' Jackie chimed in cheerfully in an attempt to liven up the conversation, but Star only seemed to be saddened further by this. 'Yeah...I guess that's true.' She groaned. She realized that this was something she'd probably just need to accept, as much as she didn't want to. The rest of the day was pretty calm. Mrs Skulnick remained docile throughout the rest of their classes, and the buzz for the new girl had died down. Star didn't take too much notice of what was going on around her though. She had developed a sort of obsession with changing the new girls' mind, and spent most of the day thinking about ways to do that. She was so focused that she didn't even say a word to Marco or Jackie on their way home.

Once they arrived at Marco's house, he decided to walk Jackie home. 'You think she'll be alright?' Jackie asked as Star disappeared in the front door of Marco's house. 'I don't know, but either way, she's going to have to try.' Jackie nodded 'And what about the new girl? You think she'll be able to get used to all this?' He shrugged. 'I would hope so, because it's going to be hard to keep her away from everything, and even harder to keep Star from doing something crazy with her magic.' Jackie paused for thought. 'Something doesn't feel right though.' Marco looked puzzled. 'What's that?' 'I mean, she seemed so... Unassuming, but for some reason everyone is giving her all this attention...I know how that sounds and all, but it just seems a little weird to me.' She looked at Marco, like she expected him to disagree with her. 'Well... Yeah, it is a little weird. I feel like I do care about her much more than I should after only talking to her once, but that might just be concern more than anything.' Jackie giggled a little. 'Yeah, that does sound like you, maybe we should get to know her a little better if we see her tomorrow.' Despite this, Jackie still wasn't entirely sure about the new girl, though she didn't want to say anything to Marco, out of fear of seeming jealous. She hoped to find out more about who the new girl really was before Star and Marco got too involved. Once she arrived at home and hugged Marco goodbye, she started planning on visiting this new girls' home, and finding out more about her from her parents.


	3. Chapter 3

Part 3: Janice returns to school

Janice's parents hadn't said much to her about their decision about her returning to Echo Creek high, so she assumed that they didn't really care, though she was unsure if she wanted to go back or not, she convinced herself to go, hoping to have a better day. Since she had moved to a new class, she retraced her steps from the other day to find out which class she would be sent too. It seemed to be quite far away from the other class, so she figured that she wouldn't have to run into the student Marco had warned her about. That was until she ran into Marco, who was talking to a familiar looking girl.

'Is that her?' She thought to herself whilst doing her best to stay out of sight. She stood heads above everyone else, so this wasn't easy. She took a moment to look at the girl as she laughed along with Marco. Without even realizing it, she started walking towards them, she tried to stop, but she couldn't, it was like she had no control of her body. 'Hi...' she said nervously as she reached them.

'Oh hey Janice! Good to see you're back!' Marco exclaimed as both him and the girl turned to her. 'Hi!' the girl said cheerfully, her smile destroying any anxiety Janice had before. 'I didn't get to meet you before, but I'm Jackie.' She reached out her hand while retaining her welcoming smile. 'I'm... Janice, it's nice to meet you.' she squeaked as she took hold of Jackie's hand. Almost as soon as she finished speaking, another pair of girls appeared behind Marco and Jackie. She couldn't remember fully, but she knew she had seen both of them in the classroom.

'Marco did the homework, I'm sure of it. He'll help you out.' Said the girl with long blonde hair as she approached the group. 'So how 'bout it Marco? Wanna do my homework?' The other girl followed up with a wink. Marco responded by rolling his eyes. 'Give me a good reason why you couldn't do it yourself, and maybe I'll consider it.' The girl didn't respond at all. They both simultaneously took notice of Janice. 'Oh you're back!' screamed the girl with long her. 'I'm sorry about what happened the other day! I'm Star Butterfly!' She saw Star reach for her pocket, but Marco grabbed her arm before she could do whatever she was going to do. There was no doubt, this was the student who'd created the monster, and just like that, she started to feel anxious again. 'It's nice to meet all of you should probably get to class now though.' And she was off, before letting the other girl introduce herself.

'That was my fault wasn't it?' Star asked with a slight frown. 'Not at all.' Marco reassured her. 'I bet she just needs a little time to get comfortable here.' Janna decided to speak up. 'Yeah, she did seem really nervous though, how long do you like that'll take?' Although she was being sarcastic, Marco couldn't help but consider her question. She obviously wasn't used to being around people, he even found himself wondering if she had really had any actual friends before. These thoughts distracted him all through class up until lunchtime.

He decided it would be best to keep an eye out for Janice, so he could invite her to sit with him and the others. He still wasn't fully sure it was a good idea to keep her around Star, but as long as he kept an eye on her, he hoped it would be okay. It took him a surprisingly short amount of time to find Janice in the crowd, and he quickly called her over. Once she reached the table she took a seat next to Jackie.

'Hey Janice.' She said softly. 'How's your new class treating ya?' Janice took a quick glance around the table at everyone to see them looking at her, eagerly awaiting her answer, but oddly enough, this didn't make her nervous at all. 'It's been... Okay. There were no weird monsters in there atleast.' The whole table busted out laughing, and Janice decided to join in. 'Well that's great to hear!' Marco said, still mid-laugh. The conversation continued normally afterwards, though Janice mainly just sat and listened to what they were saying, so she could know these people better, and soon enough the group was off to class. Janice had to leave the group not long after exiting the cafeteria, though Star stayed with her a little longer.

'Hey Janice.' She began, in a slightly sad tone. 'I'm sorry about what happened the other day, that was my fault...I kinda feel like making it up to you, are you busy tomorrow?' Janice stopped to think for a second. She wasn't sure about spending time alone with her, but she also didn't want to say no, she could be completely wrong about her after all. 'I don't think so. I mean it is Saturday, and I think my parents have finished packing. What do you have in mind?' Stars face lit up. 'it'll be a secret...' She said in a sing-songy voice. Janice wasn't sure about this at all, but part of her was curious. She began writing down her address, and handed it to Star. 'Okay... Sure' She said, unconvincingly. 'Come by whenever, I guess.' Star let out an excited scream, which startled Janice a little. 'Alright great! I'll see you then!' And just like that, she was gone.

For the whole rest of the day, Janice was worried about what she might have gotten herself into. She knew that this girl was capable of turning people into hideous creatures, yet she still agreed to hang out with her. She found herself wondering if it would be just her and Star, or if anyone else would come along too. She hoped everyone would go, but decided not to get her hopes up. At the end of the day she ran into Marco, Jackie, and Star yet again before she was heading home. They invited her to walk with them, although she objected kindly at first since they didn't know where she lived, but they insisted.

Their first stop was a quirky home with two weird towers breaking the roof, where they dropped Star off. From their conversation, Janice assumed that Marco was somehow related to Star. After Star dissapeared into the house, Jackie immediately began to speak. 'So Janice, me and Marco were talking, and we think you could use a little girl time this weekend you know? I'd like to spend a little bit of time with you, if you don't mind.' And just like that, one of her big questions was answered, it didn't seem like Star had told these two about her plans for tomorrow, but despite this, she began getting some paper to write it her address, but Jackie stopped her before she was done. 'Oh don't worry about that, we'll just walk you home, I should be able to remember where it is. Lead the way.' Janice didn't have it in her to disagree, or tell them they didn't have to, so she walked slightly ahead and began leading them.

She hadn't actually noticed before, but Marco and Jackie were holding hands. She felt a warmth coming from her chest when she noticed and smiled just slightly. It made sense to her that the nicest people she knew at the moment were together, and she couldn't help but wonder how long they'd been together, but was too shy to ask. She listened to them laughing together as she walked ahead, occasionally being called into the conversation for an opinion, or just so she could be included. She found herself laughing quite a few times as she slowly grew more and more comfortable, and she actually found herself looking forward to hanging out with Jackie tomorrow before they finally reached her house. She almost completely forgot about her plans with Star. Marco hugged her goodbye, and Jackie followed.

'I'll come by tomorrow at three.' She said as she gave one last wave. Janice watched them both walk off, and was left hoping that Star would show up later than three. 'You know.' Marco began. 'I think this might be easier than I thought.' Jackie smiled at him. 'I think so too, I think once she gets to know people around here, she'll feel like she won't ever want to go to another town.' Marco nodded confidently. 'I agree... Hey how about you two meet me and Star somewhere tomorrow?' 'That's a great idea!' She replied enthusiastically. 'I'll call you around five and we can figure it out from there.' 'Sounds like a plan!' Marco agreed happily. Once they reached Jackie's house, they kissed each other goodbye, and Marco was on his way home, filled with excitement for the next day.


	4. Chapter 4

The new kid part 4.

Janice woke up surprisingly early for a weekend. She rolled over to grab her phone to see the time was only 9:30 am. Even still, she knew her parents were already downstairs unpacking whatever remaining boxes they had. She thought that she had a good amount of time to prepare for her day, but that presumption was dashed quickly when she heard the door bell. With in ten seconds of the shrill noise, her mother called up to her in a tone almost matching the bell. 'Janice! Your friend is here!' She was no where near ready, especially since she was certain that this was not Jackie. 'I'll be right down!' She lied as she rushedly picked out her day clothes and threw them on, half questioning why she didn't just pretend to be sick or something. She was soon dragging herself down the stairs to find Star conversing loudly with her mother. 'Hey you!' Star screamed as she spotted Janice on the stairs, causing her mother to jump back a step. 'I was so excited I woke up early! I hope you don't mind.' Janice had no response, she just walked next to her. 'See ya later Mrs. Dusky!' Star yelled one more time before closing the door. Janice hoped that since Star was so early, she could get whatever she wanted to do, done before Jackie arrived.

'Soooo Janice... What do you do for fun?' Janice was a little taken aback by this question. She had expected a little time to pass before having to engage in small talk. 'I guess I like to read sometimes.' She responded unenthusiastically, which seemed to disappoint Star. 'Huh... Reading.' She mumbled. 'Ever read fairy tales? Those are usually pretty fun right?' Janice scoffed. 'I mean yeah, I was five once too.' Star fidgeted uncomfortably as she walked. 'Janice lookout!' She heard Star scream before she was momentarily disoriented. When she came too she was surrounded by a forest.

'Darn, wrong place. I knew I shouldn't have rushed it.' She heard Star grumble as her body hit the ground. 'Where are we?! What is this?!' Janice exclaimed, clamoring to stand up. 'It's a... Forest!' Star yelled, still sounding somewhat uncertain. 'I know it's a forest! How did we get here?' Janice replied, doing her best to stay calm, but before Star could answer, there was a noise in the bushes ahead of them. The pair of them looked up simultaneously to see a bold looking unicorn staring curiously at them.

Janice took a deep breath to scream, but Star covered her mouth. 'Shh, he's not dangerous... To us atleast.' She sniggered as she approached the unicorn calmly, reaching out her hand to rub it's gleaming nose. Janice just sat back in the dirt, watching Star interact with the peculiar creature. Oddly enough she didn't have any sort of headache at all. She actually started to feel somewhat comfortable in the creature's presence. Star lifted her hand, beckoning Janice to her side. She was slow to get up, but she eventually reached the side of the magnificent horse. As she did, it bowed her head down to her. 'I think he wants you to pet him.' Star whispered to her excitedly. Janice began reaching for his vulnerable neck area reluctantly. It's fur was softer than anything she had ever felt.

Star hopped on his back while Janice enamored with stroking the animal's soft mane. She reached out her hand invitingly, but despite everything, Janice still found herself hesitating to take hold. It was like a part of her was holding on to the idea that none of this was real, like it was just a dream, and she was still tucked quietly in her bed. She scratched behind the horses gentle ears once more to remind herself of the reality of everything before grabbing Stars out stretched hand and hoisting herself into the back of the oddly familiar beast. The creature began to gallop forth as soon as Janice took her place. It seemed to know it's path well, avoiding every tree or bush that found itself blocking it's majestic stride without sacrificing any speed at all. Janice was too focused on the unfamiliar surroundings, she didn't even think about where it was they were going.

'We're almost there!' Star yelled from behind her, and with this Janice's eyes darted forward, and she saw it. A gigantic castle sitting just on the edge of the Forest. She only looked for a second before her head began pounding yet again. She felt the soft fur disappearing from beneath her as everything went dark. The horse came to a stop as Star jumped off after her . 'Oh my gosh Janice!' She rushed to the side of her unconscious friend, unsure about exactly what had happened. She had to assume it was the same as what had happened in the school. She picked up Janice's oddly light body and placed her back on the slightly startled unicorn, and began to make her way to the nearest doctor she could reach without her parents knowing she was there.

Not much could really be done for her once they arrived. The doctor gave her a bed and allowed her to stay, under the belief that it was 'Royal business'. Though she was unsure how long she'd be out, Star decided to stay by her side until then. She knew this was her fault, and had to apologise. After an hour of waiting Star ended up asleep, her heavy head resting on Janice's gaunt stomach. Janice's eyes finally cracked open to see Star lying on her, so she gave her head a firm poke. 'Wake up sleepy head.' She giggled as Star turned her head to look into her eyes. Star immediately noticed something different about her. She was smiling at her mischievously with wide eyes, a stark contrast to her usual neutral expression and tired, half closed eyes. 'You were right, it is nice here, but I feel like you should take me home now.' Star remained silent as she opened a portal for the both of them, feeling somewhat guilty for causing such trouble.

The two of them stood looking at Janice's home, though Janice still looked a little odd to Star. 'It's been fun. I'll see you around.' She said with a grin, before walking away, not even waiting for Star to respond. Star turned her back to the house, almost regretting not listening to Marco. She really felt the impact of what she had done this time, and made her way home, completely oblivious to the rest of the world thanks to the weight of the guilt in her mind


	5. Chapter 5

Part 5 Jackie's Saturday:

'She wasn't here when I woke up, I was just wondering if you'd seen her anywhere.' Marco's tone worried Jackie, even over the phone. In her mind she already knew where Star was, and she could bet Marco did too. She only hoped Star wasn't doing anything too... Star-like. 'Don't worry Marco...' she whispered softly into the receiver of her phone. 'I'm going to head over to Janice's now to see if she's there.' There was a pause, and the sound of a deep breath from the other side of the phone. 'You're right. I'm just being a little paranoid. Thanks Jackie.' She smiled her radiant smile at the phone. 'No problem dude. I'll call you later 'kay? Bye!' And with that, she hung up.

It was still only one o'clock, a full two hours before Jackie promised Janice she'd be at her house, but she couldn't wait, she knew Star might get excited and use her magic, and she didn't want a repeat of what happened on her first day. She hopped on her board and started moving as fast as she possibly could. Her mind was so focused that she almost got hit by a few cars on the way.

Once she finally reached the home, everything looked calm, the house was normal, and there were no weird creatures grazing in the front yard. She approached the front door confidently and gave a light knock. Very little time passed before a stout, tired looking man greeted her. 'Is Janice in?' She asked, suddenly feeling a little less confident. 'Oh my, isn't my daughter popular?! Honey, it's another friend of Janice's!' A woman appeared from behind the door. 'Oh goodness, such a lovely girl!' The strange couple stared at Jackie for a few seconds, which was made more awkward by the fact that Jackie had to look down at them. 'Is Janice home?' She felt the need to repeat herself to get their attention. Their expressions quickly changed from excitement to a kind of apologetic regret. 'Actually, no, she left the house earlier with her other friend. They've been gone a while now, I do expect they'll be back soon.' The man said, while not so subtly gesturing Jackie to come inside. 'I guess I could wait here for them then.'

The pair lead her to the dining room, where it seemed like they had been in the middle of a meal. Both of them sat down, and the man pulled out a seat for Jackie. It seemed like an odd gesture, but she didn't want to be disrespectful. 'So... Umm...' The man trailed off. 'Jackie... My name's Jackie.' He snapped back into his senses. 'Jackie! Right... Just how long have you lived in this town?' She scratched her chin in thought. 'I've been here just about as long as I can remember.' 'Wow, that's much longer than the other girl, she said she hadn't even been here a year. Maybe you should be showing Janice around town.' The woman laughed. 'Yeah, that's what I was going to do today actually, I didn't expect Star to have made plans too.' The table fell silent yet again, but then Jackie realized that this would be the perfect opportunity to find out more about Janice. 'Where did you guys live before here, If you don't mind me asking?' The two of them exchanged nervous glances. 'Uh, we came from a small town on the west coast.' The man answered sheepishly. Something wasn't right, but Jackie decided to leave that question alone for the time being. 'Was Janice popular over there? She doesn't really talk about her old friends at all.' Once again the two looked at each other, this time the woman chimed in. 'She... Hasn't really had any friends that I know of.' And again it seemed she was avoiding the question.

She didn't expect much of an answer from her next question either, but it was worth a shot. 'Okay, so the other day Janice fainted in class, has that ever happened before.' The two of them turned bright red and started sweating, but they kept their mouths shut, until...'Alright!' The man yelled. 'No don't!' The woman tried to cover his mouth, by he shook her off. 'What? She obviously already knows what's going on, we might as well confirm it for her!' She seemed to mellow out at this, which was perfectly fine with Jackie, even though she didn't have any idea what they were talking about.

The man took a deep breath to calm himself. 'We, like your other friend, do not belong in this dimension.' This should have taken Jackie by surprise , but she'd learned to expect this kind of thing. 'Why are you guys here?' She asked, while not trying to sound rude. 'Janice. That's not the real her, and we aren't her parents.' 'That explains the difference in height.' Jackie thought to herself, while holding back laughter. 'She became Queen in our dimension when the King and Queen died of a horrible disease that afflicted our kingdom. We had served the King and Queen loyaly, so we became advisors for Janice, but we couldn't stop the epidemic, so She just gave up, and even started enjoying the chaos, before she decided to contribute to it. Her anger grew her power and she nearly destroyed everything, until one day when she started laughing at the anarchy. Her powers weakened just enough for us to use a mind spell we'd been working on. It erased her memory and gave her new ones, but it wasn't complete, since we thought that would be our only chance. We think her episode the other day was the spell showing it's cracks.' Jackie was a little taken aback by the story, she contemplated the odds of them picking this town over any others, there had to be something else at play there. 'I hope you guys are still trying to perfect that spell, it won't last in this town, and she sounds dangerous.' They both nodded in agreement. 'We are doing our best, but with what happened, we have to keep our progress hidden. We have no idea what's going to bring her...'

The sound of the front door opening resounded through the halls. 'That must be them now.' The mother said with a smile as she walked out into the Hall. 'Janice, Welcome ho...' But she was cut off by a loud ringing noise. Jackie turned to see a hallway engulfed with blue flame. She could make out the figure of the woman lying on the ground. The man ran out into the hall with a sword that Jackie hadn't seen before. He yelled something, but Jackie's ears still rang. Another wave of flames came, fully encompassing the man as he fell on top of the woman, who turned to ash under his weight. By now, the whole house was burning, and Jackie could feel the oxygen draining from her body. She had to get out.

Janice was stood in the doorway to the dining room, staring Jackie down with eyes she didn't recognize, Jackie took a quick glance to the glass door that lead to the back yard. She dashed wildly across the room to open it, but before she could, she felt a huge gust of wind force her through the glass. She landed hard in the back yard, with next to no air in her lungs. The world turned red as blood trickled out of the multiple cuts on her face. She could not move. She half expected Janice to burn her now, but she didn't. In fact it seemed Janice had dissapeared, which was a relief. Jackie's thoughts shifted to the couple. 'They did all this and...' The lack of oxygen caused her words to freeze. 'And I didn't even learn their names.' And with that, Jackie fell out of consciousness.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6 Marco's Saturday: '... After burning for two hours, the flames dissapeared in almost an instant, baffling the fire department, who had been working tirelessly to extinguish the inferno. The owners of the house were no where to be found at the scene. The only person to be recovered was a local teenage girl who was rescued from the back yard before the fire department arrived by a neighbor. The neighbor was able to keep her breathing long enough for an ambulance to arrive. Nothing is known about how the fire started, or if the girl was involved in any way.' The news report continued to drone on about the condition of the house while Marco watched nervously. 'Marco... Are you...' He put his hand up to stop her. 'No. I'm worried. That's Jackie they were talking about, I know it.' Star wasn't sure if this was true or not, but she had to try and reassure him. 'Psh, that could be any...' He interrupted her yet again by holding his phone up. '72 times I've tried to call her Star. 72 calls and atleast 100 texts.' Star felt a pit in her stomach. 'Oh...' There was an awkward silence as Marco dialed the number yet again. 'Well, why don't we go to the hospital to see her then? That's where they took her right?' Marco took a deep breath as he placed his phone in his pocket. 'Yeah, calling clearly isn't getting anywhere. I can't promise I'll be able to stay strong in there though...' Star tussled his hair. 'Don't worry! That's what I'll be there for, okay?' Marco smiled just a little bit through his pain. His parents, who had also seen the news report, decided to go too. Despite all 4 of them being in the car together, the journey was silent. No one knew what to expect once they arrived, they just really hoped Jackie was going to be okay.

When they arrived, they ran into Jackie's parents, along with Janna, all three looking equally sad. 'You guys haven't seen the new girl have you?' Janna whispered to them. 'Her family can't have just disappeared, could they?' She sounded a little perplexed in this, as she glanced towards Star, expecting an answer, but she couldn't offer one. Marco felt much more confident with his emotions now that they had such a big group, but once they finally reached her room, that confidence went out the window. Jackie lay there, still unconscious with a breathing mask on with bandages all over her face and arms. Most of the group looked away, but Marco couldn't . It was all too horrible, he couldn't imagine what had done this to her. He stood silently by her beside, taking comfort in the soft pumping sound coming from her breather that told him she was still alive.

One of the nurses had entered the room while everyone was taking in the terrible scene. 'So what's the doctor soon saying?' Jackie's dad asks, while obviously trying to stay composed. 'Well...' He started in a way that seemed like he was going to give bad news. 'Surprisingly, there were no burns, though she did have a lot of glass embedded in her skin, which wasn't too hard to remove, and the bleeding stopped fairly quickly. She also seems to have 3 broken ribs, but none of them have punctured her lungs. She inhaled quite a bit of smoke in the house, which is the biggest issue right now. Usually breathing would have normalized by now, but it is getting better.' Everyone seemed relived, except for Marco. 'So do you have any idea when she'll be waking up.' He said while keeping his body facing towards Jackie. 'Unfortunately, no. She should be awake already, all things considered.' Marco nodded. He didn't like that answer, but it was the best he was going to get.

Star walked to Marco's side and placed her hand on his shoulder, not noticing the tears that were staining his face and dripping down onto Jackie's bed sheet. 'You heard him, she's going to be alright Marco, she just needs a little more sleep.' Marco only responded with more tears as he felt another hand on his back. Jackie's parents and his were now stood next to him, along with Janna, who was behind Star. Everyone now had tears in their eyes as they watched Jackie's chest rise and fall peacefully. 'She's tough... She'll pull through.' Her dad chimed in, his shaky voice betraying his true feelings. There was no comfort, everyone felt awful, no one more than Star, who knew that somehow, this was her fault. She had to decide what the best time would be to tell Marco about the time she'd spent with Janice. Now was definitely not a good time. She figured it would be best to do it after Jackie woke up. Everyone stayed for atleast another hour, hoping for some miracle that would wake Jackie up, but that didn't happen.

The group left the hospital not feeling any better than they had when they arrived. 'It's weird to see Janna being that quiet, isn't it Marco?' Said Star, in an attempt to lighten the mood, but there was no response. It seemed like it was going to be a silent ride again, until Marco jolted his head up, as if he'd just had a major realization. 'Star, you went to see Janice this morning, didn't you?' It looked like the time to confess had come earlier than she wanted, but she didn't even have to respond, the look on her face gave everything away. 'Oh my god, it wasn't you who burnt the house was it?!' She could feel her face turning red. 'No! All I did was take her to... Mewnie for a... Little while.' She started to trail off. 'I thought we agreed to not doing magic around her?' Marco was doing his best to avoid raising his voice. 'Well... Yeah, but she seemed fine when I left, and it's not like I taught her magic. This was probably just some accident or something.' 'You're not getting it Star. You didn't listen to me, and now Jackie is hurt.' He said spitefully as he turned to the window and covered his face with his hood. Star couldn't speak, she tried to say 'I'm sorry' but no words came out. She felt tears of regret streaming down her face. She wanted to fix this, but she also didn't want to mess anything else up. She knew the best thing to do now would be to find Janice and figure out what happened.

As soon as they arrived home, Star retreated to her room, leaving Marco downstairs with his parents. 'You think Star did this?' His dad asked as soon as she was out of earshot. 'I don't' He admitted somberly. 'But I know that fire was no regular fire, you heard the news report. Maybe something came back with them, I don't know.' Marco's Mother gave him a gentle hug. 'It's okay to be stressed out over this, just breath a little okay.' She released her tender grip on him. 'We'll go see Jackie everyday if that makes you feel better.' 'I think it would.' He smiled naturally back at them before heading upstairs . He considered talking to Star, but decided to give her and himself sometime to cool off. He headed into his room to get some rest after a long, emotionally tiring day.


	7. Chapter 7

The next visit:

Marco woke up feeling surprisingly refreshed, he was still worried about Jackie, but the extra sleep he was able to get calmed his mind substantially. It was already 11:30, so Marco knew everyone else would be awake already. He descended the stairs to see his parents and Star looking like they were getting ready to go somewhere. 'Oh good! You're awake!' Star yelled towards the stairs. 'That's a relief, a few more minutes and I'd have to have woken you up.' A sinister look crept onto her face. 'But why? Where are you guys going?' Marco asked finally. 'You'll have to wait and see.' Said his mother, teasingly. He didn't feel like questioning, he knew he wasn't going to get the answer he wanted, so he just accepted it and got ready to go.

The drive was pretty much the opposite of any they had yesterday. Everyone except Marco was smiling, though they did remain silent throughout. Marco ended up spacing out as he stared out of his window. He was so out of it that he didn't even realize where they were going, until they stopped. 'We're at the hospital. You could have just told me we were visiting Jackie you know.' His parents turned to him, still grinning from ear to ear. 'We could have... But...' His dad began, hardly containing himself. 'We called about an hour ago, and... Well, she's awake.' Marco was winded by this news. 'She is?!' He looked to Star, who was reveling in his reaction. He didn't even hesitate to push his door open and begin power walking to the giant building, almost leaving Star in the dust. 'Give us a call once you're done!' He heard his mother call from the car before the outside world dissapeared behind the big brown hospital doors. There was no stopping Marco, he rushed through the hallways, sometimes only just avoiding the people around him. Once he finally reached Jackie's floor, he spotted her parents coming towards him, also looking much happier than when he'd seen them last. They exchanged a happy wave as they passed each other, and Marco took a deep breath before he entered the room.

'Hey Jackie.' He said calmly as she entered his field of vision. She still looked as peaceful as yesterday, but now she was sat upright, staring out of the window. 'Hey guys.' Her voice sounded gravelly, she was clearly still recovering. Marco felt his emotions coming back to him as he looked at the bandages that covered her body. 'How are you... Umm, how are you feeling Jackie?' He tried to hide his feelings, but as usual Jackie saw right through him. 'I'm going to be fine, I'm just glad you guys are here.' She smiled softly at the both of them. Marco wished more than anything to hug her right then, but he knew he couldn't. They exchanged silent eye contact for an extended period of time, and even then Jackie was trying to cheer Marco up. 'So, Jackie.' Star interrupted their moment. 'Do you, uh... Remember what happened?' Jackie's eyes widened slightly. 'I..I do.' She started to frown as she explained who Janice really was to them.

The two of them were just as floored by the story as Jackie had been. 'So... This was my fault.' Star squeaked, the guilt finally catching up to her.' Jackie tilted her head inquisitively. 'Hey don't say that, this isn't your fault. the spell wasn't complete after all, I have a feeling that Janice was slowly breaking free on her own.' 'How can you just be so forgiving? Look at what's happened to you. You could have... Died.' Tears started to form in Stars eyes. 'But I didn't. Sure it hurt for a bit, but I'll be okay. Your intentions were good, but you really should listen to people. That's all I have to say.' Star was in full on cry mode now. She began thanking and apologizing erratically, with her head lying on Jackie's stomach soaking her sheet with yet more tears, Jackie looked down at Star with Soft, happy eyes as she rested her hand on her head gently. 'Star, take it easy okay.' Said Marco as he handed her a tissue box that had been on the bedside table. Star nodded silently as she backed away. 'Well I'm glad to see you're doing better. Any idea how long you'll be here?' Marco asked hopefully. 'I'm not sure, they told me my ribs should heal naturally in roughly two months, as long as I'm careful so I don't really need to stay here for that, but they do want to keep an eye on my breathing for a couple more days.' Marco breathed a sigh of relief.

'But.' Jackie spoke in a much more serious tone. 'Janice is still out there. Don't do trying to look for her, okay? I wouldn't want to see you end up like this... Or worse.' Marco imagined a vivid picture of how Jackie had described what happened to her guardians, and shuddered slightly. 'Don't worry about us. Just worry about getting better okay?' He took a step forward and kissed her forehead. 'We'll do something nice once you get out okay?' She smiled lovingly up at him as he stared into her deep, beautiful eyes. 'Yeah, I'd like that.' Marco turned around to see Star wiping away the last of her tears. 'You okay now Star?' She rapidly pulled her tissue away from her reddened face. 'Of course, of course I'm fine!' Although Marco didn't entirely believe her. 'And here I was thinking I'd be the one getting emotional again.' Jackie giggled. 'Oh yeah, my parents told me about yesterday. They told me they were amazed at just how worried you were, they said you were almost as scared as they were.' His face went red. 'Yeah, I really was, I didn't know when you'd wake up... Also, don't be surprised at all when you check your phone.' Star butted in, seemingly over her previous mood. 'He totally called you atleast 1000 times!' Marco's face was as red as his hoodie. 'It was 73...' He mumbled. 'Let's not forget the text messages Marco...' She added in a mocking tone. 'Stop it Star!' Both Jackie and Star started to laugh. 'Don't worry Marco, I think that was really sweet of you. I hate to imagine what you must have been feeling.' She looked saddened by this. 'Hey, I'm just glad you're okay.'

They smiled at each other yet again, almost getting lost in each other's eyes, only to be interrupted by the floor shaking. 'An earthquake?' The three of them said in unison. The shaking was just barely strong enough to be noticed. 'Huh.' Marco grunted just as the shaking passed. 'Guess it was just a small tremor.' He looked towards Jackie, who was now wincing in pain. Her heart rate skyrocketed, causing the nurses to have Marco and Star leave the room. Something just went horribly wrong. The nurses told Marco and Star it would be better to come back tomorrow, but didn't say much else about what actually happened. The two of them left the building in low spirits. Once Marco's parents arrived, he decided to ask them about the earthquake. 'Earthquake?' they both seemed confused. Neither of them had felt the earthquake, and come to think of it, none of the nurses had made any mention of it either. Could they have been imagining it? Not likley. They both came to the conclusion that Janice must have been involved, and that they might have to go against Jackie's wishes and try to find her.


	8. Chapter 8

Debatable actions: The two of them sat in Stars room, both silently contemplating their new dilemma. What seemed like hours passed before Star finally broke the silence. 'She's still out there Marco, and her magic could still be getting stronger. We don't have time to wait and see what she does next.' Marco fidgeted uncomfortably as he remembered Jackie's request to not go after Janice. 'I know, you don't want her to worry about you.' Star responded, as if reading his mind. 'But this is for her sake, you saw what happened in the hospital. What if she decides to do something like that again? What if she becomes strong enough to level the whole building?' Marco let out a deep breath. 'Alright. You're right Star, but how do we find her?' Star's confidence drained from her face. 'Oh, yeah...That' Marco buried his face in his hands. 'Hey, don't worry, she can't be too far, she doesn't have dimensional scissors after all.' Marco picked his head back up. 'I guess that's true. If only we knew more about her, then this might be easier.' The both of them paused for a second. 'I have an idea!' Marco exclaimed. 'Firstly, we know she isn't in town, otherwise there would be countless reported sightings of her thanks to all the news reports. Plus neither version of Janice seems good with people, so I bet she would be out in the forest somewhere.'

Star took a moment to admire Marco's quick thinking, but she also realized a major flaw. 'But the forest is huge. It would take forever to find her.' She wasn't wrong, Marco knew this, but he was prepared. 'Then maybe we'll have to make her come to us.' Star was starting to question his train of thought a little. 'So you go from worrying about her being dangerous, to wanting to lead her to us? I mean going to find her is one thing, but luring her out? That sounds like a sure fire way to get on her nerves to me.' Marco shrugged dismissively. 'It's all I got, we'll most likey end up fighting her anyway, why not do it on our terms?' Star shook her head. 'But maybe not. I was with "real" Janice for a little while, and it didn't seem like she wanted to hurt me at all, so maybe I could talk to her... Try to change her mind.' Marco scoffed. 'You're still trying to change her? I shouldn't have to remind you that trying that is what caused this in the first place.' He retorted, with slight anger in his voice. 'I know. This is my fault, so I wanna be the one to fix it.' Marco could hear the guilt in her voice, and, though he was still a little heated, just couldn't say no to her pleading face. 'Alright, well let's get going.' Star pulled out the dimensional scissors happily and opened a portal. 'Alright.' Each of them took a deep breath before stepping into a large wooded area. 'I guess here is as good place as any to start.' Marco said hopefully as he was about to take his first step, but before his foot touched the leaf covered ground, a large white light erupted behind him and he fell to the ground.

'Marco!' Star screamed as she dropped down next to him. 'Don't worry Star.' An all too familiar voice came from behind him. 'That was just a sleep spell. He'll be out long enough for me and you to have a little chat.' She smiled menacingly. Star was still a little worried about Marco, but she couldn't lose focus, this was the reason she'd come after all. 'What do you want to talk about?' She turned to get a full view of Janice. It was odd how different she looked now. She didn't even look like a teenager anymore thanks to a long flowing black robe, and a firey look shining in her usually dull eyes. 'I was just a little curious about this world. I mean what little I know comes from these false memories those traitors gave me, and my time as my "other self" it's not really much to go on.' Star scratched her head. 'I see... If that's all you want...' Janice chuckled lightly. 'Well it's not all. I'm sure you've heard from that other girl the traitors one-sided account of my story by now. I should have ended that one when I had the chance, but unfortunately my other self wasn't fully out of my system, I couldn't even do it when I snuck into her hospital room. Any way. The truth of that situation is, I did what I had to do to keep myself and the kingdom alive, but my intrusive advisors didn't seem to like my leadership.' Star could detect a condescending tone in her voice, like she expected Star to be hanging from every word. 'Well from what I understand, you started to kill your own people. I can see why your advisors had a problem.' Janice let a sinister look creep across her face. 'Such a shame. I was going to ask you if you would help me make this world my own. It's your loss I guess.' She shrugged quickly as she extended her hand and a fireball began to form. 'My power hasn't recovered yet, but this might still hurt a bit.' Her calm demeanor was terrifying. Star quickly grabbed Marco and reopened the portal they had arrived with, just barely avoiding the fireball judging by the intense heat that escaped the other end of the portal as she closed it.

Marco awoke almost as soon as it closed. 'Star, what happened?' She didn't get the chance to answer, she was cut off by a much larger, though still not all that dangerous, Earthquake. This one seemed to effect a larger area too, as some car alarms went off out side. 'She didn't buy it?' Marco asked, doing his best not to sound sarcastic. 'No. She's going to do bad things to this planet, Marco. She wants to take over.' Marco gasped loudly. He doubted that this takeover would be a friendly one, but right now his mind was on something else. Jackie. Janice could choose exactly where her spells take effect, he had to rush to the hospital to make sure she was okay. He grabbed Stars dimensional scissors hastily and quickly made a portal before she could protest. The hospital was about what he expected, the ground was shaking harder than before, and the staff was scrambling inside. Star stepped out of the portal behind him, and slowly began taking in the scene. 'Let's get to her, fast.' Marco grabbed Stars hand and started running through the hospital, too quickly to be stopped by the bustling crowd of staff members, but halfway up the stairs, something odd happened. The ground stopped, no shakes, no anything. Even still Marco couldn't get the image of what happened to Jackie after the last earthquake out of his head. He ran as fast as he could with Star trailing him. When they finally reached the floor, the nursing team welcomed them with smiles and freeing up the path to Jackie's room.

'You guys are back! She yelled in a much fuller sounding voice. 'Sorry about earlier, I don't know what happened, but hey they said my breathing is perfectly normal now. I guess whatever happened cleared me out, they even took all of those annoying tubes and monitors off.' She smiled obliviously at the two of them. 'Jackie...' Marco said calmly as he sat at the side of her bed. 'Yeah...Marco?' She looked into his eyes, and knew something was wrong. 'Janice is causing these earthquakes. It's not safe here.' She nodded understandingly. 'I guess that means you found her right.' Marco's face reddened. 'Hey don't worry, you aren't hurt at all, so it's no big deal.' He didn't feel like it was important to mention how he'd been knocked out. 'She wants the Earth Jackie. She's going to do what she did to her kingdom.' Jackie sat speechless, contemplating what they could do about this, but before she could come up with anything, the intercom on the floor began to sound. 'Code red, ER. Code red, ER.' Jackie sprung up out of her bed. 'That's a fire, she's here. We gotta go.' Star didn't hesitate, she opened a portal that lead back to her room.

'We need to figure out a way to stop her.' Marco began almost as soon as they arrived. 'We will. But first let's get Jackie some actual clothes shall we?' Marco and Jackie both started to blush, he hadn't realized that she was still wearing a hospital gown. 'Oh yeah sure, no problem, I'll just uh, go tell Mom and Dad what's going on.' He left the room rapidly to try and avoid any further awkwardness, took a deep breath and headed downstairs to see his parents watching an urgent news update. It was about the hospital. It seemed the fire was now on every floor. They quickly changed the channel when they noticed him. 'Marco h...Uh... What did you see?' His dad asked guiltily. 'I know. Don't worry, Jackie is safe.' They both let out a sigh of confused relief. 'Something bad is going on here though, we need to be prepared.' They didn't feel the need to question his words, they had already felt the earthquakes, that was enough to keep them convinced. 'I think you should try the headband to, it would look cute on you.' Marco heard Star from upstairs. 'No, it's okay. The dress is enough.' Marco stopped in his tracks, eagerly awaiting Jackie to come down the stairs. He was curious to see what one of Stars dresses would look like on her.

As soon as she came into view, their eyes met, but she looked away bashfully. She was wearing Stars green dress, which was a little odd at first, he never really imagined anyone from earth wearing any of Stars clothes, but it seemed to suit Jackie, atleast to him. Marco's dad stopped to look up at the two girls. 'Didn't know there were two Stars in the house.' He elbowed Marco playfully in the ribs before turning his attention back up to Jackie. 'I hope you let your parents know that you're here Jackie.' He sounded saddened, obviously recalling the burning hospital. 'No worries, I called them. I told them I'd head over once things are calmer.' His dad shot her a thumbs up, and continued what he was doing. 'I guess we should try and keep tabs on Janice.' Marco suggested as he turned the news on, revealing an image of the burning hospital. 'All those doctors and nurses. I wish we could have helped them.' Jackie said, obviously feeling remorse for leaving so quickly. 'Hey.' Marco wrapped his arm lightly around her shoulder. 'We'll make up for that. We are going to stop Janice.' She smiled at him, somewhat unconvincingly. 'I hope you're right Marco.' images flashed in her mind of Janice's guardians being reduced to ash, and she felt tears welling up in her eyes as she looked at Marco, and for a split second, saw the same happen to him. 'I'm just scared.' Marco rested his head on hers. 'Don't be, me and Star are here. You'll be okay.' She looked up into his eyes and felt empowered by the determination in them, but it wasn't enough to distract from her true feelings. 'Please don't forget to look out for yourself too.' She whispered shakily into his chest. Marco responded by holding her tighter 'Don't worry.' These two words were enough to make Jackie let go of her feelings. Tears began streaming down her face onto Marco's hoodie. Marco tried to stay strong for her sake, but he could only take so much. He quickly joined her, and Star was soon huddled together with them. Marco's parents only half understood what was going on, but decided to leave them be.

There was no more significant news for the rest of the day, and the earthquakes died out pretty fast. It was time for Jackie to go home. 'Even still.' Began Marco as Jackie was getting ready to leave. 'I don't think it's safe for you to be out alone.' He turned to Star and held his hand out, and she instinctive threw him the scissors. 'This'll be safer.' She knew he was right, so she took his hand as he opened the portal. It opened up out side her front door. 'What a day huh?' She scratched her head nervously . 'I really never thought I'd be a part of something like this.' She seemed to be a little overwhelmed. 'It... Takes some getting used to... I'm sorry about what happened.' He looked to the ground with guilt. 'It wasn't your fault. I got curious...I should have just left the house when I found out Janice wasn't there... But I didn't and...' Marco put his finger to her lips. 'It's okay, be calm.' She took a deep breath. 'Alright. I'm okay... Thanks.' They both smiled lovingly as they leaned in for a kiss. In that moment they felt warm, like nothing from the past few days mattered, and that everything was okay. They both leaned back, each of them as red as a fully ripened tomato. 'So tell Star I'll return the dress tomorrow.' Jackie said whilst still trying to find air. And Marco just nodded as she dissapeared rapidly into her home. Once Marco returned to his house, he finally remembered what day it was, and that he had school tomorrow, and as much as he didn't want to go, he knew he had to, he just hoped things wouldn't be too different.


	9. Chapter 9

Back to school.

The next morning came fast, and Marco was again feeling surprising energized. He spent his entire morning on autopilot, stuck in his mind wondering what school would be like, if anyone even bothered to show up. There was no doubt in his mind that a lot of students would have lost family members in the hospital yesterday, he could only hope that the grief wasn't too much for everybody.

Once they arrived at school, there was a slight tone of sadness floating through the air. Everyone who was talking was speaking in a hushed voice, and the groups of people seemed much smaller and more inclusive. Much to Marco's surprise, Jackie was stood waiting for them in front of the school. He'd expected her to atleast take a couple days off. Upon approaching her, he noticed her expression, it was clear she was still feeling guilty for the hospital disaster. 'Good morning, how are you feeling' Marco said with a smile, attempting to lighten the mood a little. 'Not too bad, my chest still hurts a little, but it's nothing too major.' She rubbed her side to indicate where the pain was. 'My parents gave me a ride here today, said I probably shouldn't be skating like this.' She only seemed to be saddened further by this. 'I didn't expect they'd even let you come back so soon.' She chuckled lightly. 'Yeah, it did take a little convincing, but I promised that I'd be careful, so they allowed it. Don't know if it was worth it though.' She glanced around. 'I heard the evacuation went pretty well, but they still haven't released any information about who got out. Everyone is afraid of bad news. Her guilt was all too apparent on her face. 'Let's just stay hopeful for everybody.' Marco wrapped an arm around her supportively, and she squeezed him tightly back, not paying any mind to her injury.

Star had been uncharacteristically quiet through most of the morning, it seemed like she was taking in the somber scene of the school yard even more than the other two. She was only snapped out of her daze when Jackie extended a small plastic bag towards her. 'Thanks for letting me borrow it, I made sure to wash it too. I'd love to try on some of your other dresses sometime.' Jackie almost smiled her usual radiant smile. 'Oh yeah!' Star exclaimed, still not entirely in the moment. 'Maybe I could try on your clothes too, you know? Swap places for a day. That could be fun.' Jackie stared down Star for a second, trying to imagine what she would look like. She covered her mouth as she laughed uncontrollably. 'Yeah, that'd be great! You could learn to skate and I could do a whole bunch of wild, crazy stuff with magic.' The three of them broke out laughing as they imagined such situations. Marco's first priority was making sure Star knew how to stop a skateboard.

Their laughter was interupted by a voice in the distance. 'Jackie!?' The three of them turned to see Janna, staring with an awestruck expression. She rushed over to Jackie, tempted to hug her, but she restrained herself. 'I... Didn't know you were out.' She looked to her feet. There was no doubt she was trying to hold back her emotions. 'Yeah...I...Got lucky.' Janna didn't feel like asking questions, she was just happy Jackie was alive. 'Well, it's just about time we went to class don't you think?' Janna said, her tone of voice still clearly hiding something. She lead the way into the school and straight to Miss Skulnick's class, where almost the entire class was waiting.

'Miss Lynn-Thomas. I wasn't expecting to see you back so soon. How are you feeling?' She asked with all the sincerity she could muster. 'I feel pretty good considering.' 'Well aren't you a tough one.' Mrs Skulnick responded with a smile. She felt hesitant to mention the incident at the hospital to the class, she could see the greif on everyone's faces. She decided it would be best to go easy on lessons for atleast one day, so everyone could cool down a bit.

The mood seemed to have lightened a bit by lunch time. The class was socializing again, and Mrs Skulnick was having a good time with her students, but as soon as the bell rang for lunch. 'Jackie Lynn-Thomas to the principal's office please?' came an unfamiliar voice over the intercom. 'Wonder what that could be about?' Marco asked himself. He turned to Star. 'Hey, Star, you and Janna head to lunch, okay? I'm going to go with Jackie.' As much as Star wanted to go too, she felt like she should do what he was asking, and just like that, she left the room with Janna.

Marco turned back to Jackie, who was staring at him with nervous eyes. 'This is going to be about the fire.' She said in a tone that seemed all too certain as they left the classroom. 'What do you mean?' Marco retorted, slightly confused. 'I was the only person they found there. They are going to want to question me.' He couldn't argue. He hadn't even considered the people who would be looking for Janice and her family up until now. 'What are you going to tell them?' 'I'll have to make something up, it shouldn't be too hard to convince them that the smoke caused me to black out.' She wasn't wrong, telling the truth would only hurt her credibility.

Soon enough they found themselves staring at the door to the principal 's office. 'Don't worry... I'll be right out here.' They exchanged a quick hug before Jackie opened the door, and, like she'd expected, there was no principal, only 2 police officers. 'Hello miss Lynn-Thomas.' The smaller man said pleasantly as he motioned towards a chair. 'No need to worry, we just need some... Information from you regarding the dissapearance of the Dusky family. Would you care to tell us why you visited the home?' She could feel her heart rate rising already. She was not as prepared for this as she had thought. 'I Made plans with Janice that day, but she wasn't there, so I waited with her parents for her to arrive.' She felt a little calmer now that she was able to tell a little bit of the truth. 'Any idea what started the fire.' The second officer stepped forward, a little too close to Jackie. 'I... Don't know, I think they might have been cooking something that they forgot about? It's not really clear to me.' That was about the best she had, they didn't really have reason to believe that wasn't true.

Both officers hummed simultaneously. 'So nobody else was in the home?' The second, much larger officer asked, while moving in closer to her chair. 'I don't think so. I didn't see anyone.' Even closer. 'And you didn't see where the family ran off too.' Her heart beat was so strong she could feel it displacing her ribs. 'Maxis!' The other officer yelled. 'Boundaries, yeah?' The larger officer 'Maxis' backed away sheepishly. 'Sorry little lady. It's been a rough investigation.' Jackie nodded as she tried to catch her breath. 'It's alright. I didn't see them go anywhere. I don't even remember Janice being around when I blacked out.' The two of them looked at each other, and with that, Jackie knew she'd done something right. They now had the idea in their heads that Janice was still out there, and maybe even involved, and that was good enough for her. 'Well, thanks for you're time. We appreciate the help.' Maxis said, much more calmly than he had been speaking earlier. Marco could tell from her expression when she left the office that things had gone well. 'Good, I was starting to worry that I wouldn't get to see you smile all day.' She punched his arm jokingly. 'Thanks for coming with me dude. I feel like things might be okay.' He took hold of her hand. 'I think so too.'

Lunch was coming to an end, but Star and Janna hadn't seen either Marco or Jackie anywhere. 'Let's head back to class. They're probably of making out somewhere or something .' Star started to blush. 'Janna...' She shrugged, pretending to be entirely oblivious to Stars feelings. 'Hey, you gotta accept it sometime.' The two of them walked into the hallway, but as soon as they did, something felt weird. The air went cold, and everyone seemed to disappear in front of Stars eyes. She felt the pocket in her dress get lighter all of a sudden. Before she knew what was happening, her dimensional scissors were dangling in front of her face. 'Last chance to reconsider.' A dark figure faded into view. It was Janice, and she was holding Stars scissors. Star tried to grab them, but they seemed to vanish as she did. Janice was now stood next to her. 'I can't give these back to you I'm afraid, I really need them.' She laughed diabolically, a sound that felt it was bouncing around inside her mind. 'If you decide you want to help with my plan though.' Star hardly gave her time to finish her sentence. 'Never!' She screamed. 'Suit yourself.' said a very agitated sounding Janice as reality faded back into Stars vision. Almost immediately, the ground started shaking violently, and there was an explosion in the distance. 'We need to go now!' Star yelled at Janna, grabbing her arm and taking off in a sprint. The hallways were suddenly crowded with students and teachers alike making a break for the exit, but no sign of Marco or Jackie. They did catch a glimpse of Miss Skulnick, who was wearing her battle armor. The look on her face was pure anger. She must have known that Janice was behind all this. Star wanted to tell her not to fight her, but it would be impossible. The ever growing crowd had pretty much pushed her and Janice to the emergency exit, and there they waited for help to arrive. They waited, and waited as the crowd of students streaming out of the building got smaller and smaller, until it was gone. Marco and Jackie still had yet to show up. Ambulances and fire trucks quickly surrounded the almost derelict building. Paramedics started examining students for injuries, but Star paid them no mind, her focus was on the door.

All of a sudden, another earthquake came, but this one was only in a specific area, the area inside the school. Star watched helplessly as the rumbling ground swallowed what remained of their school. She felt her legs give way, she wanted to scream his name, but no words came out. Janna fell down next to her, holding her shoulder to give her support. The rest of the crowd stood and watched in horror, with the realization that their town was being destroyed. Hours passed, the fire department began picking through the rubble for survivors, but Star didn't move, she kept her eyes fixated on what had been the exit, expecting... Hoping that her two friends would come out okay. It was late at night before one of the fire department offered to take her home, she almost refused, she wasn't sure she could face Marco's parents and tell them what happened. But she knew she had to. She gave the fire man her address, and remained silent through the whole ride.


	10. Chapter 10

Bravery:

They knew exactly what was going on as soon as the ground started to shake, but before they could react, a section of the ceiling behind them was destroyed by a large explosion, knocking the both of them forcefully to the ground, thank God nobody else was in that hallway. Marco, while doing his best to ignore the pain, quickly shot up and rushed to Jackie's side to get her to her feet. 'Sorry about that.' A voice came from the slowly dissapating smoke. 'I just couldn't resist making an entrance.' The smoke fully cleared, revealing exactly what they expected. Janice stood there, staring sinisterly at them. Marco hadn't seen the 'real' Janice before now, so all he could do was stand there, shocked at how different she was. 'What do you want from us?!' He yelled out towards her as he struggled against the shaking ground to keep himself and Jackie standing. 'Nothing in particular.' Her disinterest in Marco's question was painfully obvious. 'Let's just make this quick so I can get to everyone else, okay?' With this she raised her arm out in front of her, and a fireball began to form.

Marco felt a huge amount of force push him sideways, into a small indent in the wall where he was out of Janice's field of view, he felt an intense heat pass behind him as he was moving. He looked back to see Jackie on the other side of the hall in a similar position behind some lockers. She was holding onto her side, and had an extremely pained expression on her face. 'Are you okay?!' Marco shouted across to her. She smiled back and nodded, but not in a convincing way. He had to get her away from Janice. He struggled to his feet as the ground seemed to shake even harder. Peeking around the corner revealed Janice slowly approaching the two of them. This was their chance. He ran across the hall, only narrowly avoiding parts of the roof that were now falling, quickly grabbed Jackie, and made his way to the end of the hall. The falling rubble seemed to be on their side, as a few larger chunks fell on Janice, distracting her from casting her spell.

Almost immediately around the corner were two police officers. Jackie recognized them as the two who'd questioned her earlier. 'You two, come with us, we're going to get you out of here!' Said the younger looking one. It was clear to Marco that they had no idea what was going on. That was, until Janice turned the corner, and the shaking intensified further, almost knocking the four of them over. The officers drew their weapons and started to slowly back away, nearly tripping on small parts of the roof as they went. Janice lifted her hand once again, but before she could do anything, a gruff voice came from behind her. 'You aren't hurting anymore students!' It was Mrs Skulnick, and she looked ready to fight. Before Janice had anytime to react, Skulnick was already up close, swinging her fists wildly, landing a few good hits. 'Get out, quickly!' She screamed at the group while Janice was distracted. They didn't hesitate to start running. As much as Skulnick was able to distract Janice, she didn't seem to be too phased by any of her attacks. Not only that, she felt herself slowly weakening, and before long, she could barely move her hands. Janice grabbed both of her arms with a force that didn't seem possible for someone as small as she was. Skulnick stared into her eyes and could only see hate as she felt her entire being heating up. She was being slowly turned into ash. She couldn't even speak as her lower body disappeared into a flash of pain. Janice stared her down until her very last moments, relishing in the pain she knew she was causing, and let out one final blast of power.

The police officers lead Marco and Jackie to an exit at the back of the school so they didn't have to worry about pushing through the crowds. They opened the door to reveal a secondary parking lot, but as soon as they did, the ground started shaking harder than ever. Cracks started to form in the walls and in the ground. 'Run!' one of the officers yelled as he started a mad dash towards their police cruiser. The others followed suit, with Marco and Jackie trailing behind, thanks to Jackie's injuries. Oddly enough, when they made it to the vehicle, the shaking seemed much less severe. They drove away followed by the rubble and dust left behind by the collapsed school. Marco and Jackie sat in the back seat silently, holding onto each other for support. 'Don't suppose you can tell us who that was?' Maxis asked. Jackie sighed. 'That was... Janice.' The two of them exchanged a shocked look before looking back to the road. 'Well. I think we'd like to know more, I know it's probably not the best time, but I'd like you to come down to the station with us and answer a few more questions.' Marco reached into his pocket. 'I guess I should call home, make sure they know what's going on.' But what he pulled out was a smashed mess of wires and cables. 'I guess I fell on it...I hope Star is okay.' Jackie looked at his worried face and placed her hand softly on it. 'Don't worry, she'll be okay.' She said, sounding oddly winded. 'We'll give them a call when we get to the station, don't worry, we want them to know that you're safe.' Marco glanced over at Jackie, who was looking weaker than when they had gotten in the car. 'We... Were going to need a doctor or something too.' The other officer turned back to look at Jackie, noticing her significantly paler tone. 'Right. Let's prioritize that.' Maxis took the hint and immediately changed his course. 'All the medical centers over town have taken in the nurses and doctors from the hospital. They should be able to take care of her.' Marco didn't respond. He only hoped that they got there fast.


	11. Chapter 11

Returning home:

Star found herself stuck outside the Diaz home. She was trying to figure out exactly how to tell Marco's parents what happened. She reached slowly for the door handle, opening it as slowly and quietly as she could. They were both huddled around the TV, watching the news report about the school, completely silent as the reporter vaguely explained the circumstances. 'Hey...You guys.' both their heads snapped around too her, and they both rushed towards her with their arms wide open open. 'Thank goodness you're alright!' They both said in unison. Star felt comfortable in their arms, but couldn't fully relax, she was just waiting for the obvious question to come. 'Where is Marco.' Either of them would ask. Would she even be able to tell them? But to her surprise, neither did. They pulled away,

and she saw their faces. They were pained. They could already tell by Stars attitude that she didn't know about Marco, and didn't want to worsen her mood by interrogating her about it. There were no more words. Star went to her room, while Marco's parents remained downstairs.

Once Star was gone, Angie broke down crying. 'It's okay.' Raphael held her softly. 'Our son is tough. I just know he's going to be okay.' He was doing his best to hold himself together while he said this. 'You're right. He's been through tougher situations with Star, I assume.' with this, the both of them looked up the stairs towards her room. 'She's probably blaming herself for all this. I hope she's okay.

As soon as she entered her room, she decided to try and call Marco's cell, but it immediately went to voicemail. Not a good sign. She didn't want to try again. She walked to her window to stare out at the city. It looked strangely calm considering everything that was going on. She felt her emotions getting the better of her as her thoughts drifted back to Marco. She wanted to believe him and Jackie were okay, but her doubts kept getting the better of her. The only thing she could really take comfort in is that she still had her wand.

The phone rang downstairs. Angie was quick to her feet, though she was a little hesitant to answer in case it was someone calling to confirm her fears about Marco. Thankfully, it was the exact opposite. '...We have your son here. We're checking him out for injuries.' She thanked the woman on the other side of the phone wildly before hanging up and turning to Raphael. 'He's okay! Get Star we need to go see him.' Raphael didn't argue, he just proceeded to get ready to go with an over enthusiastic smile on his face. 'Star!' Angie yelled upstairs. Star appeared from her room, still looking pained. 'He's okay! Come on!' Star filled up with energy almost instantly as she bounded downstairs and out side into the car. The overall mood in the car was a good one as they traveled over the newly cracked roads of the crumbling city.


	12. Chapter 12

Failed recovery.

'She's unconscious again. It's worse now. One of her broken ribs has punctured her lungs.' These words haunted Marco as he sat with the two police officers, waiting for his parents to arrive at the medical center. He tried to be thankful that he himself somehow remained mostly unscathed, not counting a few bruises, but being any kind of positive in a time like this wasn't easy. He looked around to see countless faces he recognized from school either being rushed through the building, or waiting with him, looking like they believed their lives were over. Their sadness only increased his worries about Jackie. The last time he saw her awake, her skin was paler than his was, and she could barely breath. He could only hope that Janice would give her adequate time to recover this time...Other wise, she might not... Marco reached his hand to his face. At some point while he was hiding in his mind, he started crying. He didn't want to think about the possibility of any one else losing their life to Janice, especially not Jackie. At least for now, things seemed calm. He kept trying to tell himself that Janice was finally gone, and that everything would be alright, but after everything she had done so far, he just couldn't convince himself this was true. Things picked up for him slightly when his family arrived at the medical center.

As soon as Star caught a glimpse of him, she burst out crying and ran towards him, hugging him tightly. 'Marco! I was so afraid, I thought you didn't get out!' Marco instinctively wrapped his arms around her. 'I'm sorry, I wish I could have called sooner.' His parents stood smiling, overjoyed that they hadn't lost anybody, but the revelation seemed to dawn on all three of them at the same time. 'Is Jackie... Okay?' Star asked cautiously as she released Marco. 'She's...yeah... She's...' Star could see the tears welling up in his eyes and cut him off gently. 'Well, let's hope she recovers soon.' Angie and Raphael closed in and stood next to Star. 'You've had a rough day, why don't we get you home to get some rest?' Angie said in a comforting tone. One of the officers sat next to Marco finally chimed in. 'Actually ma'am... We were sort of hoping to ask your son a few questions about these recent incidents.' Angie's face seemed to change to a dark, angered red. 'Well, you've had plenty of time to do that while you were waiting.' And with that, the group of four left the building hastily. The officers didn't even bother to protest.

Raphael didn't wait one second after they got into the car to start talking. 'So. Do you two have any idea what is going on?' Star and Marco looked at each other, knowing it would be pointless to lie at this point. They recounted to them what Jackie had told them about Janice, how they had only just barely saved Jackie from the hospital, and each of them told their story of escaping the school. Star was particularly interested in how Marco got out. 'Well.' was Raphael's only response. 'Yeah... Stopping her might be hard.' Marco responded nonchalantly. 'I think...I want you two to sit this one out. This girl is clearly dangerous.' Angie sounded slightly firmer than usual with this statement. 'But... What if she doesn't stop? She could destroy the whole town!' 'That's why we're going to leave town. It's not safe here anymore.' Raphael chimed in. Marco and Stars hearts sank. 'Please you two, you have to understand this decision.' Angie said, returning to her usual tone. 'Of course we do. It just doesn't feel right leaving everyone behind like this.' Marco thought of Jackie for a second. He imagined her waking up, only to find out that he had left town. 'It's going to take time Marco. We aren't just going to pack up and move straight away.' He nodded strongly, as he knew if he spoke, he wouldn't have proper tonal control over his voice.

Star had no idea how to react, Echo Creek was all she knew, though it was changing a lot, it still felt like home to her. She wouldn't be able to forgive herself if she left town and the whole place got destroyed. She played with the idea of fighting Janice, but Marco's parents were right, Janice was too dangerous, especially with Stars level of magic. She didn't want to accept the move... But, she might have to.

After arriving home, Marco followed his mother's advice and headed straight to bed, hoping tomorrow would be a better day, but instead of the calm rest he had hoped for, he was met with a horrible dream. A red sky stretched. Out around him in the middle of a decimated city, only piles of rubble in place of the buildings. He stood alone looking towards a floating figure silhouetted against the sun. He tried to take a step back as the figure grew closer to him, but something was holding his feet in place. He looked to the ground, and almost threw up at the sight. He was stood in a pile of charred bodies, only two of which he recognized. Star, and Jackie, who were lying face up with defiant expressions on their faces. He looked up yet again to see the figure looking him dead in the eye. 'Just you try and run.' said a raspy voice, before a bright flash of light shook him back into reality.

His room was dark, all he could see was the bright red numbers on his alarm clock. '4:18 am' he read aloud. He couldn't get that dream out of his head. It left him with questioning if leaving town really would help. Would Janice be able to follow them? Would she make the effort to do so? These questions kept Marco going in circles for hours, all the way until morning. Looking out of the window made the city feel somewhat calm, it almost made Marco feel like everything would be okay. He lay back in his bed with a clear mind, and drifted off back to sleep, where he hoped he'd find kinder dreams.


	13. Chapter 13

Dark

It took a while for Jackie to figure out exactly where she was once she woke up. She was still in the medical center, lying motionless in a room that was almost completely pitch black. Her senses slowly returned to her, and she remembered what had happened before she lost consciousness. 'Marco!' She tried to call out, but there were no words coming out, just a horrible gurgling. There was a breathing tube stuck down her throat. 'How long has it been?' She thought to herself as she looked towards the slightly cracked doorway which was the only source of light in the room. She couldn't hear any sounds of movement or panic from out there. 'That's a good sign I guess.' She moved her arms around as much as she could to try and find a call button to let somebody know she was awake, but she didn't have any luck. She assumed it was by her shoulder, but moving her arm up there wasn't possible, not only because of the countless tubes and monitors attached to her body, but because she felt unusually weak.

Her heart rate started to rise as she tested her body to see how much she could move. Her fingers would barely even budge. The door swung open wildly as the lights flickered on. She looked over, expecting to see a nurse, but instead it was... Marco. 'Oh thank God you're okay.' Jackie did her best to smile back at him with the tube in her mouth. As he got closer to the bed, she looked in his eyes, and they looked tired. She wanted so much to be able to ask him what was wrong. He stared down at her smiling, but even then he seemed to have no energy to hold onto it. 'How long have I been out.' She thought, hoping in someway that Marco would understand and give her an answer. 'It's been nine days.' Her eyes widened, surprised that had actually worked. 'Has he been waiting for me to wake up this whole time?' She stared up at his drained looking face while coming to this conclusion.

The door swung open a second time. 'Good to see she's okay.' This time, it was a nurse, who looked equally as tired. 'I guess getting the ribs back into place helped a lot.' Jackie hadn't even thought about her injury before then. She didn't even feel any pain from it. The nurse didn't stay very long, leaving just Jackie and Marco again. 'We've... Been stuck here for three days.' Marco didn't seem hesitant at all to drop that kind of bombshell out of the blue. 'But the good news is, Janice isn't in Echo Creek anymore.' As much as Jackie wanted to be happy about this, the first thing he said still worried her. He didn't really say much else about it before he left the room either, but whatever was keeping them there was definitely something to do with Janice. And now it seemed Janice was mobile.

Much to her surprise, Janna entered the room next. 'Hey you. You gotta stop scaring your parents like that y'know?' She seemed just a little more lively than the others. 'But I'm sure they'll be happy to know you're awake.' She sat down hard on the end of Jackie's bed, further drawing attention to the little feeling she had in her feet. 'They are here too by the way, but they're asleep already, I guess they'll come in tomorrow.' Jackie found herself questioning how many people were there, but she still hadn't even got an inkling as to why they were there. 'Better hurry and heal, Star is trying to convince Marco to leave and hunt her down, but he doesn't want to. He says it's because it's too dangerous for the both of them, but I heard he doesn't want to leave you here.' Jackie felt shivers down her spine. She could only hope Marco wouldn't consider going after her again. 'That and... We don't know how long we can stay here.' Janna left the room, her words floating around in Jackie's head for what seemed like hours. 'I wouldn't put it past Janice to come back for us I guess.' She concluded. 'I just hope that they won't leave me behind if she does.'

Nobody else came in. They were all asleep already, but Jackie could'nt get back to sleep, not after the nine days she just got. She burned the night away thinking. She couldn't wrap her head around Janice. 'She doesn't really seem to have any kind of motivation, she just does these things to people. She was probably angry at her guardians for putting that spell on her, but why hurt anyone else? Why has she been targeting me? Could that be why everyone is stuck here?' These questions burned into her mind as the sun slowly crept up outside her window.


End file.
